


The Last Drift

by hunterscoffee



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:49:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23384788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunterscoffee/pseuds/hunterscoffee
Summary: Y/N L/N holds the highest drift score in existence and has the most Kaiju kills, but after the loss of her base and co-pilot, she is too plagued with those memories that she cannot get back into a Jaeger. She is tasked with re-training Raleigh Becket after his time on the wall, she is forced to re-see her demons during a drift with him.
Relationships: Raleigh Becket/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not some of my best work, but Raleigh Becket needs more fics written about him.

_Therapy._ When you were found by Pentecost on the shores of San Diego, half-dead after solo-piloting your Jaeger 8 miles, your base destroyed and your co-pilot pulled from the Jaeger and killed while you were still drifting you were immediately brought to the Shatterdome. You slept for a week or you were unconscious for a week, your body took a month to recover and you had to get a therapist to sign off that you were mentally sound before you could even think about getting back in a Jaeger. So you had to do two months of therapy, that two months had started a month ago and according to your therapist you had made no progress. The only person who had kept you sane was Tendo and occasionally Newt and Hermann, though the pair more drove you insane. Three one-hour-long sessions of therapy a week for another month was going to drive you insane, the amount of strength it took not to punch that bitch in the face was incredible and Pentecost had no need for you regardless of whether she signed her name on your sanity. 

You look up from your thoughts to the lunch lady, she's shouting at someone in the kitchen, pink hair twisted into a hairnet, she was short, about 5'4" or 5'5". You knew her personally, just like you knew almost everyone on the base.   
“Whacha want?” She growls from the other side of the food, not looking at you.   
“Just the usual, thanks, Marge.” You smile and she looks up.  
“Oh, Y/N, it’s you, sorry.” She apologises as she takes your tray.  
“Hansens?” You ask as she hands your tray back.  
“How the fuck does anyone even stand them?” She asks rhetorically, voice lowered.  
“I dunno, I think it’s just Chuck though, Herc seems nice enough.” You slowly walk over to the bottled water.  
“He has to be, he’s gotta right Chuck’s wrongs.” She places a hand on her hip.  
“Probably.” You nod in goodbye as you make your way to the table you sat at.

“Ay, L/N, can you help me train after lunch.” The familiar voice of Chuck Hansen called out from where he stood by his table.  
“Sit the fuck down Hansen and maybe I’ll think about thinking about it.” Your tone is teasing, but your intention is cruel.  
“Therapy sessions not going well?” Tendo asks as you sit down, he didn’t really eat here, just came to sit with you.  
“No, how’s Alison?” You ask, opening the bottled water.  
“You avoid question.” Sasha says from the seat opposite you.  
>I avoid nothing.< You replied pointedly in Russian.  
>You lie, you avoided that question for the second time.< Aleksis said from beside Sasha.  
“Terrible, I won’t be free of her tyranny for another two months now,” You rub your face with a hand. “The bitch says I’ve made too little progress and we need to restart.”   
“You’ll get through this,” Tendo reassures as he pats your back a little too hard.  
“Doubtful.” You mumble under your breath.

***

You stare up at the ceiling of your room, the metal grey looked as cold as you felt, you didn’t know how to talk to the therapist about how you felt when you didn’t even _know_ how you felt. You look over at the clock on the bedside table, the faded green light read 0400. It was too late to sleep and too early to get up, but you didn’t feel tired at all. Turning over so you lay on your side, you reached for the MP3 player that lay there. For a base as advanced as the Shatterdome, they really didn’t have much new technology for public use. Flicking through the tracks that were stored on the player until Holocene by Bon Iver begins to play. You close your eyes again, willing yourself to at least sleep for an hour.

***

You slide out from under the control panel.  
“All done, Tendo, she should be up and running now. Try not to ruin my hard work.” You laugh as he scoffs.  
“It wasn’t me!” He insists and you pat him on the shoulder.  
“I know, but Pentecost doesn’t.” You say as you walk backwards.  
“TENDO!” Right on cue, the shout comes from somewhere in the base.  
“Good luck!” You sing-song.  
“Y/N! You can’t leave me to die!” He pleads and you laugh.  
“Sir.” You grin at the Marshal as he angrily charges down the hallway towards the control room. He doesn’t say anything to you and you laugh a bit as Tendo starts to plead it wasn’t him that damaged the panel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter, I have the compulsion to put a winky face in here, but I won't and you're welcome.

"Raleigh Becket."   
"Who?" You ask, resting the bench weights on the hold above the cushioned seat. Tendo sits on a plastic chair off to the side, holding out a water bottle with a hand, a datapad of some sort resting in the other.   
"Raleigh Becket? You don't know him?!" Tendo sounded astonished, you shook your head.   
"Should I?"   
"Well no, but yes."   
"What about him?" You ask and Tendo then hands you the pad. "I'm supposed to be 'training him'?" You cock your head as you sit the water bottle down.   
"Retraining more like, but yeah."   
"According to my therapist, I can't even train myself."   
"Well, Pentecost seems to think you can." 

"The fuck does Pentecost know?"   
"A lot more than you Ranger L/N." You winced, blood running cold.   
"Y/N, sir, not Ranger, I lost that title 4 months ago." You correct, wiping your face with a towel.   
"Regardless you will retrain him." And with that, the Marshal leaves as if he weren't even there. Tendo looks at you with an eyebrow raised, you just glared at him.   
"Fuck off, Choi." You growl and he laughs. 

***

"Raleigh Becket?" You lean against the blackboard in Newt and Hermann's lab thing.   
"Heard you the first time," Newt said as Hermann batted you away from his working space.   
"Yeah, but I'm not even out of therapy yet, how the fuck am I supposed to train someone else?!" You exclaim.   
"I dunno seems like a toughy," Newt said.   
"A toughy? Newt are you even bloody listening?" You raise an eyebrow as he stops what he's doing to look at you. 

"Of course, Y/N. If Pentecost thinks you can do it, trust the man."   
"Over my therapist?"   
"I thought you hated her?"   
"I do." You scuff a boot in the ground.   
"So when's the guy coming?" Newt asked.   
"Tomorrow, they only gave me a day's notice."   
"Y/N you've helped teach loads of Cadets whilst still in therapy, training him won't be any different, he already knows how to do it all."   
"Exactly, then why do they need me." You throw your hands up and Newt sighs.   
"Pentecost has his reasons, they may be mysterious and a bit scary, but we can agree he has good intentions." Newt pats your shoulder before running off to tend to his Kaiju organs and leaves you to think. 

You didn't sleep that night either, it wasn't like you were nervous, Newt was right, you had trained loads of people before and you had no reason to be weird about ‘Raleigh Becket’. You sit up in the small bed, fumbling for the container of sleeping pills on the nightstand and then fumbling for the water bottle, perhaps now you could sleep.

***

 _Fuck._ The clock’s faded green light read 1000. Not only were you four hours late to breakfast, two hours late to meeting Becket and your therapy session was now, but you felt as if you hadn’t slept in a week. Which, in all honesty, you hadn’t. It seems as if no one had made the effort to wake you, a breakfast tray sat by the sink in the corner of the room, there was a note folded beside it. Tendo had probably dropped it in when he realised you weren’t at breakfast, he knew you too well to not think you were with someone. You hadn’t been with someone in years, not since your co-pilot.

You slowly got up, still groggy from the most sleep you had got since the week you were unconscious for. Every action you took was slow and sleepy, even tying your combat boots, by the time you had finally made it to the main control centre where Tendo was bound to be it was 11 am. Pentecost hadn't said anything of your tardiness and had made no indication to which you were thankful for. When you got to the control room everyone was running about, Tendo made eye contact with you from across the room.   
"What's happening?"   
"Pentecost is showing Becket around the Shatterdome, the Russians are back, Chuck's pissed another dozen people off and I've lost paperwork _and_ where have you been all morning?" He finished, out of breath.   
"You didn't bring me breakfast?" You narrowed your eyes as he shook his head.   
"That was Pentecost, he said something about you needing to sleep and the Kaiju portal-thing." Tendo handed you a pile of paper as he rummaged in a desk drawer. "You missed meeting Raleigh, your attendance was promised."   
"I overslept." You shrugged.   
"Fair enough, you barely sleep."   
"Not true I slept for a week."   
"A month ago." Tendo finished, raising an eyebrow. "See you at dinner?" He asks as he takes the stack of paper from your hands.   
"Are you kicking me out?" You fake hurt and he shoves you lightly.   
"Yes. Leave. I have things to do." 

***

>He's quite good looking.< Mako says in Japanese as you sit on the steps to her room.   
>Is he now?< You laugh as you unpackage a sandwich. >How do you know he doesn't speak Japanese or is home?< You nudge her and she smiles.   
>He won't let me pilot a Jaeger.< She says as she stares at the ground.   
>Pentecost?< You ask, already knowing the answer. She nods and you sigh   
>I dunno what either of us can do, it'd be cool if you were Becket's co-pilot.< You raise an eyebrow as you take a bite of the sandwich.   
>He would never let me.< She shakes her head and you offer a sympathetic smile.  
>I have no idea why, you're as good a pilot as any, better even. Pentecost might come around.< You say as you screw the tinfoil into a little ball and aim if, for Raleigh's door, it hit its target with a little sound. >What does he look like anyway?< You ask and she smiles again.   
>Dreamy.< This time you laugh.   
>You sound like you're in love.<   
>I might be.<  
>You need to get out more.< You tease and she leans into you slightly.   
>There's nowhere to go.< She says softly.   
>True dat.< You sigh, staring at Becket's door. 

***

"How'd the mission go?" You ask Sasha and Aleksis over dinner, you had spent most of the afternoon doing nothing, walking around the Shatterdome with Mako and annoying Newt and Hermann with your presence.   
"Good!" Aleksis speaks loudly and Sasha smiles.   
"Yes, good. One more down." She says, poking slightly at her food. "How goes therapy?"   
"I missed my session today, actually. Felt good not going." You admit, nodding slightly. Tendo looks sideways at you, disapprovingly.   
"That therapy is important." He reasons and you snort.   
"That therapy is a waste of my time." You correct and he sighs.   
"Seat here taken?" An unfamiliar voice asks from behind you, Sasha raises a bit of an eyebrow at you. _Raleigh Becket was standing behind you._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here part three of nine and I have a complete lack of motivation to do anything.

"Seat here taken?" He asks and you turn in your seat, eyes meeting warm blue ones, soft-looking blonde hair unstyled and messing. Mako was right, he was  _ good looking _ . You blink at him for a second. 

"It's not fifth grade, all the seats are available." You said sarcastically and Tendo elbows you. 

"Y/N, be nice!" He whispers under his breath as Raleigh sits, he was right, that comment was rather rude. 

"I am." You whisper back, just as harsh. 

"Sasha, Aleksis, Y/N." Tendo gestures to you as he introduces you to Raleigh. 

"Y/N L/N?" He asks and you nod, "You hold the highest simulation score, most Kaiju kills and solo-piloted your Jaeger over 50 miles."

"Yep." You poke at the food on your tray as the entire room seems to go silent. 

"Oh shit, did something happen?" He looks apologetic. 

"My entire base was slaughtered and my co-pilot was pulled from my Jaeger as we were still drifting." You say lowly as you get up from the table, throwing the contents of your tray in the bin and storming out of the room. 

" _ Fuck _ ." He curses and Tendo pats his back slightly. 

"It's okay, the base and copilot aren't actually the problem." He says as he gets up. "I gotta go, I promised Alison." 

***

"I'm sorry." He apologies as you throw punch after punch to the bag hanging from the ceiling. 

"Once my body was physically able to get out of bed I was put into therapy. They think it's PTSD. But it's not. I dunno what it is, but it doesn't plague me." You stop your assault on the bag to rewrap your hands but don't look at him. "I was told I have to retrain you. We're starting with the basics, runs at 0400 hours and combat at 1400 hours. What we do between those activities will vary, you have breaks between 1000 hours and 1100 hours and 1230 and 1400, what you do with that time doesn't concern me. You need to log every drift you perform." You stop rewrapping your hands and pick up a water bottle. 

" I really am sorry." You finally looked at him, his eyes were tired and red, the lines on his forehead creased as he raised his eyebrows just slightly. He was biting his lip, Mako really was right. He was very good looking. 

"I'm not mad or hurt, this is what every Ranger has to do in order to get back in a Jaeger." 

"You really look mad." His voice held good intentions. 

"I don't need another fucking therapist to tell me how I feel or how I'm fucked up." You growl and he looks taken aback. 

>Y/N, go easy on him, he doesn't know.< Mako says in Japanese from the doorway, clutching a pad to her chest and looking down. 

>He should.< You hiss whilst looking at Raleigh. "I'll see you tomorrow, 0400 hours outside my room." You dismiss him. You had perhaps overreacted, but he should've known better.

***

“Mako says you shouted at Raleigh,” Tendo says from beside you at dinner.

“Heard it from the grapevine?” You huff and he laughs quietly.

“Give him a chance, he’s cocky, but a good man and he’s been through his fair share of shit,” He gave your back a light pat. “Remember this is your chance to get back in the field.”

***

_ 0400 Hours _ , when you were in the academy getting up that early was hell, now it was a lifestyle. You hadn’t seen Becket since you went off on him, you were convinced you overreacted, but there was little you could do now. You could hear him banged at the door to your room, taking a deep breath to calm yourself and picking up your running shoes you walked to the door. You were dressed in a grey tracksuit, the Shatterdome was far too cold in the mornings to wear anything else, Raleigh, too, was dressed in the same tracksuit they gave Rangers and those training to be.

“I said we’d meet, not to come pounding on my door as if Hitler had risen from his grave.” You said sarcastically, your tone was not cold nor angry.

“Sorry.” He apologised sheepishly.

“My brother was killed while we were still drifting, I had to solo-pilot my Jaeger back to shore, I know what you went through.” He said a while later, more people had risen from their rooms, running similar courses, socialising or training.

“I was the last thing between the Category 3 Kaiju and my city. First, a second Kaiju appeared and massacred the base, then as we were distracted, the first Kaiju ripped my co-pilot from our Jaeger and ate him as we were still drifting. I piloted the Jaeger to the San Diego shore and then collapsed. When I woke up everyone told me it had been a week and I was emotionally compromised and I could no longer go out into the field, they put me in therapy and told me I had PTSD,” You stopped running when you approached the mess hall. “I failed that day, I don’t need your pity or your sympathy, I need you to understand, that’s all.” He nods at your words.

“I understand, thank you for telling me.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is rather poorly written. Hope you're all doing well.

Things had been good with Raleigh since you two got all Dawson's Creek, morning runs had been mostly in silence, he had improved massively in his combat and cardo. He ate breakfast and dinner with you, Tendo had stopped eating with you, something about Alison needing more time with him. The Russians had gone out for a mission again so most meals it was just you and him, occasionally Mako would eat with you in the mess hall, even when she did it was in silence, listening to the talk of other tables and the banter of Chuck Hansen. You were supposed to test Raleigh's drift compatibility today, it had been little over two months since you had last drifted with someone and the thought plagued your mind. You almost  _ needed _ to drift with him, just to prove to yourself that you could still fight. The morning's run had again been in silence, nothing had been said and nothing needed to be, you understood him and he understood you, it was comfortable. 

You still ate lunches with Mako, outside her room, which as you found out a week ago, was across from Raleigh's. You hadn't run into him as you ate lunch, he had no reason to go back to his room. Mako's childish crush on him hadn't wavered and you still lightly teased her about it, that was until she brought up that you and he would be 'cute' together. You had just told her to 'shhh' and how you would never. 

Therapy was the only thing that hadn't improved, in fact, it had worsened, the therapist had said you had become impulsive, jumping in too soon. You were just tired of the consent thinking that you were broken. That's why you need the practice drift as much as Raleigh did. You had missed a couple of sessions to train more with him, your therapist, of course, was not happy with this, but when you trained with Raleigh it was like everything was before. The feeling seemed almost naive, but it felt nice, the warm blossoming in your heart when he was near or the slight shiver you would get whenever he touched you.  _ Love _ . That's what Tendo had said, you had just laughed and said 'forget I said anything'. And he had, Tendo didn't bring up that you might be falling in love with Raleigh Becket since then. Perhaps you were lonely or sad, it had been a while since you had let yourself feel attraction. It was different with Raleigh, you hadn't let yourself do anything, it had just happened. And if you were perfectly honest you were happy it was happening. 

***

"Ready to be in my head?" You asked and he quirked an eyebrow. 

"Darling you're already on my mind." He joked, and you couldn't help but laugh at the pathetic joke. 

"Put the fucking helmet on, Becket." You sigh, smiling still. 

_ Brothers running through a kitchen, a happy family, mother dying, father leaving, brother dying.  _ He must've seen these things so often to not blink an eye at the trauma. Your turn.  _ A family of six, three brothers, you and two fathers. All dying by the hand of a Kaiju in 2013 except you, all because you weren't home to die with them. A cadet in the PPDC as a Jaeger pilot, graduating with the highest score and being sent to California. Holding the city for four years until the base was massacred by two Kaiju. Your Co-pilot dying.  _

"You think I'm hot?" Raleigh's voice brought you out of the memories. 

"You think my ass looks good in my tracksuit?" You retort back. 

"You think mine looks good, too. You're just as guilty as I am." 

" _ Simulation will begin in 3, 2, _ " The AI said in your helmets, stopping any conversation between you. "1."

“ _ Neural Handshake strong, _ ” The AI said in your ear. The controls began to pop up as the Kaiju came into eye view. You stood in an ocean, water lapping at the legs of the Jaeger. " _ Category 4 Kaiju, Pandora. _ "

“Ready, Becket?” You smile over at him and he smirks back.

“Ready.” And with that the simulation started, you moved in complete synchronization, thoughts and movements one. No words needed to be said, only thought. You were a couple of minutes into the fight and you could no longer tell your thoughts from his, they kind of just blurred together into one. Every punch and kick came naturally against the massive Kaiju. The monster was sloppy, aiming wildly for you with each swing of its fists. You and Becket kicked upwards, into its chest, making it fall back into the water with a large splash.

Slowly it got back up as you dashed for it, smashing both fists into its head. The Kaiju fell and so did you, ignoring the warnings the AI blared, you gasped for air. Pulling the helmet off and ending the simulation as you continued to breathe heavily.

“Shit,” You curse as the memories came flooding back. “Fuck.” Raleigh pulled his own helmet off as he slowly knelt beside you, wrapping a comforting arm around you and pulling you into him.

“I’m sorry you saw that.”

“I know how you feel and- and you're not broken,” He searches your eyes before capturing your lips in a searing kiss, deepening it as he slid his hand around the back of your head. You returned the kiss, tangling your own hands into his short hair before breaking away for breath. Slowly he opened his eyes, looking from your mouth to your eyes. "I- I'm sorry," He starts, "I just- Life is too short and-" You cut him off with a short kiss.

"I liked it, you were in my head, you know how I think and feel." You pointed out. 

"Good, cause I liked it too." His eyes moved back to your lips almost hungrily. 

"I know." 


End file.
